Work

I’m a person who loves systems. I thrive on routines, plan for fun, and have tried more life hacks than you could shake a stick at. Because of this interest in organization, I’m a little bit hooked on “productivity porn.” I love seeing how other people organize their lives and shamelessly stealing aspects of their routines that I like.

One of my favorite sources to steal from is Cortex, a Relay.FM podcast hosted by Myke Hurley and CGP Grey. Both are “independent content creators” and the show covers various aspects of their working lives and how they stay productive. In one episode, Grey recommends The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey as a great productivity porn book, which I immediately placed a hold on at the library.

Me and everybody else in my area, it seems. I was on the wait list for over a month. But it was well worth the wait — I loved The Productivity Project.

The book is a look at a year in Bailey’s life which he dedicated to studying productivity. He threw himself into productivity experiments and relates the entire experience in a way that is both helpful and humorous. Unlike many other productivity books on the market, The Productivity Project does not prescribe a certain approach or system, but rather provides an overview of many different systems and hacks that Bailey tried over the course of the project and a rundown of how they affected his productivity, as well on thoughts on why they either worked or didn’t.

Bailey’s writing is inviting and conversational rather than instructional or commanding, like so many time-management solution books slip into. I enjoyed it because I didn’t feel like Bailey was trying to get me to buy into any one approach, but rather laying out tools I could work into any system that I liked. And he wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel and create a system from scratch. It was just a guy trying out a bunch of stuff to see what worked and what didn’t, which I totally related to.

If you are at all interested in The Productivity Project, I recommend picking it up. It’s a quick read and a great resource that I think anyone bothering to read this review will like. If you’re the type of person who would grab a book called The Productivity Project, you’re set for a good time.